Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Filthy Animals by Brandon Taylor

6 reviews

kimothay's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is my first Brandon Taylor read! Short story collections are usually not my favorite because I very much need detailed, direct character development to thoroughly get invested in a story. However, I enjoyed many of the stories in this collection and I’m interested to read more of Taylor’s work. This is definitely a dark read with lots of content/trigger warnings; however, since the main theme of the book is how humans seek connection but resort to violence, it was to be expected. I would have liked to see more character development or addressing of core problems, but overall, I enjoyed the collection. The standout for me was Anne of Cleves. 

Potluck: 4/5

Little Beast: 4/5

Flesh: 3.5/5

As Though That Were Love: 3.5/5

Proctoring: 4/5

Filthy Animals: 3/5

Mass: 2.5/5 

Anne of Cleves: 4.5/5 

Apartment: 3/5 

What Made Them Made You: 4/5

Meat: 3/5 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Eating disorder, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Grief, and Outing

annmariebrok's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Outing

daffodildyke's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

“the origin of his desire to forgo meat wasn’t environmental or even about the animals really. it was selfish. because the thought of consuming dead things, when he had been so close to dying, when he had wanted to die… was too much”

I think it is very clear that the author can lovingly and realistically create characters, especially queer characters. I think the intimacy created in some of the sex scenes was very palpable and authentic, even if I didn’t personally enjoy some of them or understand what we were getting at with others. 

I particularly liked parts of the exploration of polyamory with Lionel, Charles and Sophie - I liked that it was natural and normalised, and I feel like it had so much potential

but I feel like the moment Sophie asks Lionel to thank her for letting him sleep with Charles, that ruins a lot of the positives of their story. I think it lazily plays into stereotypical understandings of polyamory, and was entirely unnecessary. The way Sophie asks Charles to tell her about his other sexual partners is one thing - as this is done as part of what Sophie enjoys, this is something that excites her - but this weirdly out of character assertion of ownership goes against everything healthy polyamory should be!

 

I found the shortness of some stories jarring when others continued across multiple segments or chapters, and it left me wanting to know more about some of the stories, whilst also somewhat wishing it had just focused on one. I feel like Lionel was very much the character I got to know most, and I am not complaining about that, but it definitely felt unbalanced… which maybe was intentional. I think Lionel, Charles and Sophie could have been the focus of a whole novel and their domination of the collection takes away from some of the other incredibly poignant tales Taylor tells.

As an ace-spec person, maybe reading a book that largely centres on desire and sex was asking for me not to wholeheartedly enjoy it, but alas, the actual sex scenes were probably the most interesting parts of it for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

samarakroeger's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved the Lionel/Charles/Sophie stories — and the structure of the collection meant I was invested in reading the book the whole way through. a few of the other random stories I didn’t really get into very much, but I really liked Anne of Cleves. 

I will read anything Brandon Taylor writes. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Outing

tree_branch's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Homophobia and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Stalking, and Outing

mmatti300's review

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This book was so close to a five star in a lot of ways, except for the fact that I actually hated the central story. I found Lionel, Charles, and Sophie’s story to be way too similar to real life and with more of the subtle abuses (to the point where it was so subtle that others may not have seen their relationship as inherently abusive). However, Anne of Cleves, What Made them Made You, and Mass were all 5 stars for me, and if Lionel and Charles had been more like those this would have been a 5 star collection. I also was not expecting it to have a central story like it did. Instead of a short story collection, this is more of a novella with short stories that branch off of it attached. What Brandon Taylor does do really well, and shows in this book, is offering a glimpse into real life and the betrayal and filthy nature of real people. And I really appreciated how, because each story was like a snapshot of one persons life, it ended in a vague spot — open to countless questions. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Outing, and Sexual harassment